Omaha daily bee., 1887-04-29
RARE RAILROAD RuMBLEs.
History OF That Big Pioneer Com
pany, the Baltimore Il Ohio.

prise in this country about which there is
so much of interesting "reminiscences and
history as the Baltimore IL Ohio railroad.
1t was the first railroad in America; IL
had the first steam locomotives; 1t had the
first railroad accident, and along its
track was strung the first line Of tee.
graph in the world. On the evening Of
Frebruary 10, 1897, twenty.fi promi.
nent business men of Baltimore met to
discuss the best means of restoring to the
city that portion of the western trade
which had been diverted to New Orleans
by the introduction of steam navigation
on the Ohio and Mississippi. A report
embodying the views Of the conference
was submitted five days later. The
opinion expressed was that nothing but
double track railway would meet
the demands OF the trade between
Baltimore and the great West.
lie was immediate. A plan for the or.
ganization of the Baltimore & Ohio com.
pany was at once framed, and the act of
incorporation was passed by the legisla.
ture nine days after the scheme had been
submitted to the public. The charter
was drawn up by that distinguished law.
yer John V. l.. Mcmahon, and, although
he had no precedents whatever to guide
him, so we'll was the work done that the
act Of Incorporation has served as q
model for nearly all the railroad charters
that have been granted in the United
States. The capital stock was fixed at
%, 900, ,O00-30, 600 shares at 800 each
and the directors we're authorized to in.
crease the amount if necessary. So great
was the confidence of the people in the
project cat that nsa subscriptions to the extent
the close of the year. The 4th of July.
1928, was probably the most memo
rable day that Baltimore ever witnessed.
The city was alive with bunting and
crowded with people. Strangers from
New York, Philadelphia, and all the
great cities were here. There was q
great procession, with continuous music.
the first stone of the new road was laid
by the venerable Charles Carroll, OF
Carrollton, the last surviving signer of
the declaration of Independence.
THE FIRST RUSH WAS OVER.
Now came the hard work in an unex.
plored field. Engineers were sent out.
They worked hard, and their reports were
remarkably accurate. The chief of the
corps, Colonel Long, made a statement
of the principles which should govern the
construction of roads that is unusually
kind on record. He said that the rails
should be 4 feet 81 inches apart. and that
when there were two tracks the inter
vening space should be feet, and he
laid down other theories that readily OBJ
tanned in later years. The contracts were
given out in July. 1S28 and in year and
half, one and half miles of the road
had been completed. Queer-looking ex.
cursiOn cars were run by horse power at
a round trip of nine cents, or three tickets
for quarter, and so great curiosity
was the new enterprise that it could not
accommodate the crowds. In May, 1880,
the road was opened to EllicOtt's Mills,
and the receipts ran up to over ST. 900 a
week, which was much more than the
running expenses.
In 1928 Peter Cooper bought 5000 acres
Of land in Baltimore, and began to build
the Canton iron works. He became in
terested in the new railway, and set
about trying to build machine that
would displace the horse. In his glue
factory in New York, on "old Middle
road" somewhere between Thirty-iirst
| and Thirty.second streets, he had an old
stationary engine with boiler about the
size OF q barrel and q cylinder three and
| one-half inches in diameter. He had
this engine brought to Baltimore, and
taking Il to acarriagemaker's he mounted
1t on truck and connected it with the
| wheels by an ordinary crank. 1t was u
funny looking machine. Mr.. Cooper,
however, was confident OF its power. He
invited the directors and several guests
forty.two in all--and the train of one
car and the engine started off
and wondering passengers. Thirteen
miles on an up grade was made in one
hour and twelve minutes and the return
trip was made IN fifty seven minutes, a
rate of speed that made the eyes of the
passengers bulge with astonishment.
''This was" said Mr.. Cooper shortly be-
fore his death, "the first passenger en-
passenger train that was ever drawn by
an engine on this continent" A funny
incident occurred on the return trip. A
coach drawn by the crack horses of the
city offered to race to Baltimore. En-.
gineer Cooper gladly accepted the offer
and the race began; The horses jumped
steam. The little engine crawled up. Il
got even with the flying animals. The
race WAS NIP and tuck when all of sud
| den the band slipped off the fly wheel
Engineer Cooper attempted to replace it.
and in doing SO he lacerated his hand
The horses won the race and Peter
| cooper was tne vlCtln Oh the urSC rail-
road accident In America.
THE SAILING CAR.
Among tho men greatly interested In
the new road was o machiniSt named
Winans. He built successful sailing
car and made various improvements
One day pleasant looking stranger en-
tered his shop and began asking ques
tions. He answered them good naturedly
and intelligently, and he was assisted in
the courtesies by his young son Thomas
The visitor was very much delighted, an(
he soon announced himself as Baror
Krudencr, the Russian minister. He haC
come over from Washington to look into
the new enterprise. The result of it al
was that Machinist Winans made loco
motiye and pile driver for the Gar, ano
tho son went across the sea to show tn,
! Russians how to work the new machines
When this young mechanic came bacl
he was several times a millionaire, an,
.. in a short time all the members of thu
family were very wealthy. This Is th'
wealth that now enables Thomas Winan
, to lease the largest game preserves il
.. Great Britain, and Ross Winans to owl
mansions in both hemispheres.
Peter Cooper's engine was not per